


In the Hands of Fate I: Curse of the Black Pearl

by LyraRaineSparrow



Series: In the Hands of Fate [1]
Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-30
Updated: 2013-05-30
Packaged: 2017-12-13 11:49:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 15,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/823978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyraRaineSparrow/pseuds/LyraRaineSparrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes I wonder if leaving the only life I really knew to escape a past was a good idea. When the past of one particular cursed pirate's cursed daughter seems to catch up with her, does she continue where she left off or does she have to douse a past wanna-be flame. Luna beware, yer playin' with fire... and fate...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

_Tortuga. The last place I wanted to be at the moment._

" _Oh, cheer up Luna," Scarletta said from beside me. "Take a deep breath. It's just like home."_

_I rolled my eyes. "I was raised in Romania by a very strict Romani caravan. This is not home."_

_She snorted and unsheathed her sword, picking up a tankard of rum with it as we passed by a table. "Ah, I'd count nine as adulthood."_

" _Obviously you're not a gypsy."_

_A drunkard stumbled his way over to us and passed out at our feet._

" _I have a question," Scarletta stated as she slid the tankard down her sword._

" _You always have questions Scarletta," I sighed. "Either that or opinions. And I don't fancy hearing either of them at the moment."_

" _That's mean." She took a sip. "Yer last name is Petulengro. But ye claim yer father is Hector Barbossa."_

" _I fail to see a question."_

" _Why isn't yer last name Barbossa?"_

" _Because I didn't-" I stopped. I was not having this conversation yet again. "Just because it is. Just get your arse back to the Curse and set sail for Port Royal!"_

" _Aye, Cap'n!" she mocked. "What of the rest of the crew?"_

" _You'll be back in a week. They won't miss you."_

" _I can't believe yer leaving us to become a nanny. What say ye if ye get caught?"_

" _Worse comes to worse they find out I'm a gypsy. Besides," I flipped a brunette wig over my short black and white bob and disguise my voice, "No one will recognize me as Estrella Jones, the governess from England, of something as evil as piracy."_

" _I can't believe yer leaving us to be a nanny."_

" _I'm not a like you Scar. I have feelings. And_ am un trecut _."_

" _And ye expect to out run it by becoming a scullery maid?"_

 _I rolled my eyes again. We were at the ship now, climbing the gang plank. "On deck, you_ mutts urâtmirostitore _! Make way to set sail for Port Royal!" I turned back to Scarletta. "You have you mother tell you your whole life is a lie and send you away to a father you've never met. Be persecuted_ de trei ori _for being a gypsy. Have the father you never met commit_ rebeliune _–mutiny- against your best friend and then get himself cursed by Aztec treasure. Not to mention being cursed yourself. Tell me you wouldn't run from that."_

_She thought for a moment. "Nope."_

"Incredibil _!"_

That was the last time I set sail on a pirate ship. Now I'm simply a lady-in-waiting for Miss Elizabeth.

Memories like these always keep me up late at night wondering.

Sometimes I wonder of my mother.

Sometimes I wonder what's become of my ship after I left it in the capable -but rough- hands of my first mate Scarletta von Vanity.

Sometimes I wonder if my father ever rid himself of the curse.

Sometimes I wonder if Jack escaped the island or if he's still there.

Sometimes I wonder why in the hell I gave up that life for the one I have now.

But most of the time I wonder if I'll ever be able to go back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Romanian translation:
> 
> Amintire – Reminiscence  
> am un trecut – I have a past  
> mutts urât mirostitore – malodorous mutts  
> de trei ori – thrice  
> Incredibil – unbelievable
> 
> For future reference: Luna speaks a mixture of Romanian, English, and a dash of Latin. If she personally does not explain it in her dialogue or you just can't figure it out on your own the translations will always be down here. If I missed one; sorry.


	2. Chapter two

 

Elizabeth Swann is to be the death of me. This, I know for a fact. Whether she runs off with Master Turner (which if you ask me is quite inevitable) or possibly goes gallivanting around with pirates (again, inevitable). Personally, I prefer it if she chose the former. I've dealt with pirates enough to last me ten lifetimes.

I'd have to admit, though, that both those out comes would be partially my fault. If I hadn't told her all those stories about my adventures on the _Wicked Wench_ (aka _Black Pearl_ [that's a story for another day]) and the _Gypsy Curse_ , and a few of Jack's.

So, with all that taken into consideration, it wasn't a huge surprise to find out that my mistress had been in a brush with a pirate. It seemed almost normal for me to speak of it, even though it really wasn't my place. Not in this household anyway.

"There you go, miss," I said as I placed the bed warmer between her sheets, "It must've been a difficult day for you, I'm sure."

Miss Elizabeth nodded as she looked through the book in her hands. "I suspected Commodore Norrington would propose, but I was still not entirely prepared for it."

I chuckled softly as I tucked her in. "I meant your being threatened by that pirate. It sounds terrifying," I lied. As terrifying as a baby kitten… then again I was raised by a cruel lot of them.

"Oh. Yes. Terrifying," she deadpanned.

"But - the Commodore proposed! Fancy that! That's a smart match, miss, if it's not too bold to say."

"It is a smart match. He's a fine man," she began, this look of concentration covering her face. "The sort any woman should dream of marring."

"That Will Turner… He's a fine man, too."

Miss Elizabeth shoots me a glare. "That is too bold."

"Beggin' your pardon, _doamnă_." I patted her shoulder. "It was not my place."

* * *

I was nearly to my room when I first heard the cannon fire. It took me a moment, but I did recognize the guns. Hard to forget a ship like that. Especially since I spent the majority of my life on it.

The _Black Pearl_ was here.

I rushed to Miss Elizabeth's room quickly, but she wasn't there, nor was she on the balcony. Out in the distance I could see, in the faint moonlight, the black sails of the legendary ship.

There was a scream from inside the house. I followed it to the origin.

"Miss Elizabeth?" I asked in a whisper as she rushed into her room. Elizabeth jumped due to my close proximity. "They've come to kidnap you, _doamnă_. You're the gov'ner's daughter." As soon as I said it, I knew it was a lie. A glinting of gold nestled in her bosom caught my eye.

They were here for the medallion.

One of the pirates slammed into the door and Elizabeth pushed me into the corner. I was crammed between her tall wardrobe and the wall. I've been in tighter spaces, I'm sure, I've just never really like small spaces.

"They haven't seen you. Hide, and first chance; run to the fort," she orders me.

The pirates managed to bust through the door. Miss Elizabeth runs to the side door with the pirates close on her tail; _Pintel and Ragetti,_ I think immediately. The names pass through my head as an afterthought.

Pintel gets his faced smacked with the bed warmer and he staggers back. I take this as my chance to run.

But I don't go to the fort. Instead, I make my way down to my room, tugging on the laces of my work dress and corset.

I slam the door to my room behind me and lunge for the trunk at the foot of my bed. I slip the dress off and a white poet's shirt and a black leather stay I found in the trunk on. My bonnet as well as the wig I wore had fallen off when I dove for the trunk, so my strange, longish hair cascaded down my back.

Out of the trunk came a pair of black breeches, old black leather boots and a bright blue sash. These garments were put on in a matter of seconds. It was not my normal garb but it was what I arrived at Port Royal in, so the skirt will have to wait.

Hidden under the false bottom of the trunk was a very delicate looking sword and pistol. Without a second thought, the scabbard was tied to my sash and the cutlass drawn, the pistol slipped into my sash as well.

I managed to make it out of the manor without incident but the entire port had gone to Hell. Cannon balls zoomed past; pirates and citizens and Navy men alike ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, and screams filled the air nonstop.

I held my ground like the best of them. But I really was no match, being so out of practice and all. I'd attack one pirate and manage to run him through, and not even five minutes later, he'd get back up and attack me again.

I heard the sound of a cannon ball whizzing past my head and land in the building behind me. I had just enough time to watch as Elizabeth was dragged past me before everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Romanian translations:
> 
> Doamnă – Mistress


	3. Chapter two

" _He's chosen her, Estrella. Your daughter is to be wed within the year." The man's deep timber sent a shiver down my spine._

_I peeked around the corner and into the kitchen of our small house that we shared with two other families. My mother sat at the small table, her head in her hands, as the man leaned on the small stove. He was frighteningly tall and his golden eyes pierced the air between them. I recognized him from when my mother had spoken to him in the market. I've met him once or twice before but never caught his name._

_My mother looked up and over to him. "She's hardly of age," she groaned._

" _She'll be nine within the month._ _Nicolæ has chosen her. This means she's now betrothed to him, she belongs to him."_

_I seethed. I belonged to no one but myself. And I wasn't betrothed to anyone. I lived my own life and no one but I controlled it._

_He chuckled darkly and walked the short distance to her. "Think of it this way, Estrella. You'll be saving dear Esmeralda from the horrible curse placed upon your great-grandmother."_

" _Her name is Luna, Pali."_

_He leered at her. "Come now, Estrella, you and I know for a fact that Nicolæ has every right to change her name now that they're betrothed." He shrugged. "Esmeralda isn't very suiting, though. But what would he know? He's barely eleven."_

_I ran at that moment. I knew this day would come, I just wished it would wait until I was older. It was a long shot, this I knew as well, to see it to at least my tenth birthday as Luna_ _Petulengro._

_I tried to sleep, really I did. But no matter how hard I tried the urge never came._

" _Luna, my dearest, wake up," my mother sighed as she gently shook me. My eyes were closed but even then I could still tell there was little to no light in the room._

" _I'm already awake,_ mami _," I murmured._

_She sat me upright and pulled a shawl over me. "You must go,_ fiică _. Mirela is to take you to the docks. A man is waiting for you there, he'll take you to your father but it might be a while before you reach him."_

" _But_ tată _is asleep in your bed," I argued, not quite understanding._

" _No, Luna, your real father," my mother stated seriously, "Marko is just my husband. There isn't time to explain, my love. I've written you and Hector both a letter that will explain everything."_

" _Can't this wait until the morning?" I questioned._

_She looked at me somberly. "No,_ ficcă, _in order to escape this terrible life, you must leave tonight, it is the only way."_

_She pulled me out of bed and handed me off to Mirela, one of other mothers that lived in our home, but not before she hugged me good-bye. We were ushered out of the tiny house and into and awaiting carriage. The gravity of the situation finally hit me and I screamed for my mother. I was escaping the cruel life of the Romani. I was free to live life the way I wanted. But with a great cost; I was never to see my family or friends again._

* * *

I awoke to the sound of chickens. They seemed to be trying to eat me. One even pecked my ear.

I quickly stood and regretted it. My head hurt and my vision spun making me dizzy. I looked around for something familiar and found Mister Turner in a similar predicament. He, too, stood quickly and ran in the direction of the fort. I followed suit.

"That's not good enough!" Will snapped throwing a hatchet at a map placed on a table.

I walked on the small open room with caution; a group of people surrounded the table. Will, Commodore Norrington, and Governor Swann were the only ones I recognized.

Norrington took the axe from the table and walked around to Will's side. He didn't exactly threaten the blacksmith with it, but close enough to put him on edge. Neither man stood down.

"Mr. Turner, you are not a military man, you are not a sailor, you are a blacksmith. You have nothing of value to contribute here. And this is not the time for rash actions."

I had to agree. Rash thinking tends to get one into quite the quandary.

The Commodore put a strong arm around Will and led him towards me. "Do not make the mistake of thinking you are the only man here who cares for Elizabeth."

We made eye contact and he looked shocked. I knew I must have been a strange sight to see. With my midnight black hair (save for the one chunk that framed the left side of my face which in fact was white) braided just past my shoulders in disarray, plus my attire, I must have looked like a mad woman. He shook his head as if to dismiss a thought and glared at Will, pushing him out the door.

Will swiftly walked away immediately. I ran to catch up with him.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

The look he gave me as he took me in was one of pure bewilderment. "Who are you?"

"Pardon my rudeness. I'm Estrella Jones, Miss Swann's governess." I curtsied.

"What do you want?" he asked as he continued on his path.

"To know where you are going."

"Well, if you must know. I am going to convince Jack Sparrow to help me save Elizabeth."

"Commodore Norrington said not to do anything rash," I argued, "It's a terribly bad idea to rescue that man." Plus, he might not take a liking to me if he remembers… That would make for a terribly awkward adventure, and I do plan on going.

"And who are you to say such things?"

I shrugged and picked up a feathered hat and black scarf I found. "Just a woman speaking from experience. Captain Jack Sparrow, as much as I respect him, is not one to get mixed up with."

I tied the scarf around my head, wrapped my braid into a bun and placed the hat on my head.

Nothing else was said between the two of us. I tagged along as he walked down into the jail, sticking to the shadows. The last thing I needed was Jack Sparrow spotting me.

"You. Sparrow," Mister Turner said sharply.

"Aye?"

"Are you familiar with that ship? The _Black Pearl_?" he interrogated.

The prisoner, who was laying on the floor of the cell, looked to Will and replied; "I've 'eard of it."

I stifled a laugh as I moved back to the stairwell to sit. Not only was Jack Sparrow incarcerated, but he also feigned owning the _Pearl_? What a joke.

"Where does it make berth?" Will wondered.

"Where does it make berth?" He sounded astonished. "Have you not heard the stories? _Captain_ Barbossa and his crew of miscreants sail from the dreaded Isla de Muerta… It's an island that can't be found, except by those who already know where it is."

Isla de Muerta… So the rumors are true, they did make it.

"The ship's real enough. Therefore, its anchorage must be a real place. Where is it?"

"Why ask me?" Jack questioned.

"Because you're a pirate."

"Oh, yes. Because that's the answer to everything," I mumbled beneath my breath.

"And you yourself want to turn pirate? Is that it?"

"Never," Will growled, rattling the prison bars gently. "…They took Miss Swann."

I knew he loved her.

"Oh, so it is that you've found a girl. Well, if you're intending to brave all, hasten to her rescue and so win fair lady's heart" -I snorted. Typical Jack- "you'll have to do it alone, mate. I see no profit in it for me."

"I can get you out of here," Will said eagerly.

"How's that? The key's run off," Jack retorted.

Will looked around at the iron bars. "I helped build these cells. These are half-pin barrel hinges." He pointed to said hinges as he spoke, before turning to get an upturned bench. "With the right leverage and the proper application of strength," he placed the leg of the bench in the bars, "the door will lift free."

Jack sat up, intrigued. "What's your name?"

"Will turner."

Jack nods. "That would be short for William, I imagine. A good strong name. No doubt named for your father, aye?"

"Yes," Will answered.

And that's when it hit me. Bootstrap. A plan started forming in my head. And with my luck, everything should work out. But first, I needed to get on Jack's good side.

"Uh-huh," was Jack's thoughtful response. "Well, Mr. Turner," he began as he stood, "I've changed me mind. If you spring me from this cell, I swear on pain of death, I shall take you to the _Black Pearl_ and your bonny lass. Do we have an accord?"

I watched as Will hesitantly shook Jack's hand.

"Agreed."

"Agreed. Get me out," Jack urged, waving his hands.

Will removed the door rather loudly. "Hurry. Someone would have heard that."

"Yeah," I spoke while standing up, "The deaf man two ports over." I nearly rolled my eyes at my accent. As soon as we left this Navy infested rock, it was being dropped.

"Not without my effects." Jack ran over to the rack and picked out his things as Will and I headed up.


	4. Chapter three

The three of us snuck out to the docks. Peeking out from under the main dock, our line of vision is drawn to the _Dauntless._

"We're going to steal a ship? _That_ ship?" Will asked.

"Commandeer," I corrected. I had dropped my accent a little bit ago and I'm fairly sure Jack recognized me.

"We're gonna _commandeer_ that ship," Jack continued as if I hadn't spoken. "Nautical term." He was quiet for a second before he turned back to Will. "One question about your business, boy, or there's no use going; how far are you willing to go to save her?"

"I'd die for her."

His tone shocked me. Wow. He really wanted her safe.

"No worries then."

The three of us ended up in an upturned canoe, walking across the bottom of the water.

"This is either crazy or brilliant," Will said, breaking our rather ungainly silence.

"Remember how often those two traits coincide, _pereche_ ," I told him.

* * *

Sneaking onto the _Dauntless_ was actually quite easy. Getting Will to keep quite… well, let's just say, he's obviously not a pirate. Nor a ninja.

"Everybody stay calm. We are taking over the ship!" Jack said calmly, pistol in one hand.

"AYE! AVAST!" Will called.

Jack and I shot him a look. The entire crew of sailors burst out laughing, the one that's obviously in charge stepping forward.

"This ship cannot be crewed by two men."

I coughed loudly. "Am I a ghost or something? Can you not see me?"

"As I said; this ship cannot be crewed by two men. You'll never make it out of the bay."

"Son." Jack stepped forward. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow." He pulled the hammer back on his pistol. "Savvy?"

We made quick work of getting the sailors on a longboat. Jack tried getting Will to untangle a couple of the lines, which wasn't working out too well for him. I simply wandered around mindlessly, making it look as if I were doing something of importance. I managed to make my way up to the helm with Jack.

He still didn't notice me. I wasn't sure if he was ignoring me on purpose or if he really didn't see me. Either way it was getting on my nerves.

"Here they come," Will stated as he joined us as well.

Jack turned his head to see the _Interceptor_ prepare to set sail. He grinned devilishly.

Commandeering the _Interceptor_ was easier done than said. After Norrington and his men all settled on the _Dauntless,_ Jack, Will, and I all swung over. Will cut the ties and off we were.

I watched as a sailor tried to join us but instead fell in the water. Jack yelled his thanks to the Commodore who in turn ordered his men to open fire on us.

* * *

"When I was a lad living in England," Will stated as he sharpened his sword, "my mother raised me by herself. After she died, I came out here looking for my father."

"Is that so?" Jack said without interest as he checked the tautness of the lines.

At the moment I sat on a barrel, cleaning my cutlass. I was only half paying attention to the lads story.

"My father; Bill Turner." He stood to follow Jack up to the helm. "At the jail, it was only after I told you my name that you agreed to help. Since that's what I wanted, I didn't press the matter. I'm not a simpleton, Jack. You knew my father."

A moment passed before Jack stood from tying off a rope and turned toward Will and spoke. "I knew 'im. Probably one of the few that knew him as William turner. Everyone else just called him Bootstrap, or Bootstrap Bill."

"Bootstrap?" Will asked.

Jack moved to the wheel. "Good man. Good pirate. I swear you look just like him."

"It's not true," Will argued, "He was a merchant sailor, a good respectable man who obeyed the law."

I rolled my eyes. "He was a bloody _pirat_ ; a pirate," I yelled as I joined them.

Will drew his sword. "My father was not a pirate."

Jack sighed. "Put it away son. It's not worth you getting beat again."

"Again?" I wondered.

"You didn't beat me. You ignored the rules of engagement. In a fair fight, I'd kill you."

"Then there's not much incentive for me to fight fair then, is it?" Jack spoke.

He had a point. Unfortunately, at that moment Jack turned the ship sharply causing me to stumble. I get up only to see Will dangling over the ocean, holding on a sail for dear life.

Jack picked up Will's blade that he dropped, and walked to him. "Now as long as you're just hanging there, pay attention. The only rules that really matter are these; what a man can do and what a man can't do. For instance, you can accept that your father was a pirate _and_ a good man or you can't. But pirate is in your blood, boy, so you'll have to square with that some day. Now me for example; I can let you drown, but I can't bring this ship into Tortuga all by me onsies, savvy? So," Jack turned the wheel again and the sail twisted so Will tumbled on to the deck, "can you sail under the command of a pirate or can you not?" He flipped the sword in his hand and held the hilt out to Will who took it hesitantly.

"Tortuga?" Will asked.

"Tortuga."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Romanian translations:
> 
> pereche - mate


	5. Chapter four

"Oh, Jackie?" I called sweetly in a singsong voice not long after the incident with Will. He turned around just in time to see me saunter over to him.

"Who the bloody hell are you?"

I smirked slightly and slapped him across the face hard enough to make my hand sting. "That's for not coming back to me," I snapped.

He rubbed his jaw where there was already a bright red mark. "Ah. Ow. Who are you?" Jack growled.

"You know very well who I am. Gandeste-te draga mea," I told him, the last part spoken in Romanian.

He locked eyes with mine and soon became the size of saucers. "Luna?"

I chuckled. "See, it wasn't so hard now was it?"

He smiled brightly if only for a second, then a scowl appeared. "Not coming back to you? Last I recalled, it was I who was marooned and forced to watch as you and the rest of me mutinous crew sailed away with my ship!" he sneered.

I scoffed. "Like I had a choice!" I snapped back. "They all but locked me in the brig. Don't ya think that if I could 'ave stopped Barbossa, I would've? Bootstrap wasn't the only one that felt marooning you was a bad idea."

He growled at me. "You coulda at least warned me."

"I did, dragoste. That first night in Tortuga," I mumbled.

I barely had enough time to register that Jack had pulled his sword on me and swung. I dodged but he still hit my hat, knocking it off my head. My braid cascaded down my back.

I pulled my cutlass out just in time to parry his next advance.

"Jack, stop!" I screamed.

"You ungrateful little wench!"

He attacked full force and I faltered slightly.

"Ya know as well as I, that if I had said anything, my father would have killed you! Don't-" I parried yet another swing "-tell me-"

"Tell you what? That I'd rather him kill me than watch him sail away with not only me ship, but my best friend as well, knowing full well that I'd never see you again?" he quizzed.

A few things happened simultaneously in the next moment. Jack lunged at me and managed to disarm me. I stumbled back, falling over the stairs leading to the helm. Will joined us above deck just as Jack pressed the tip of his blade into the hollow of my neck.

"You left me. Not the other way around."

I breathed heavily, my head spinning. "But I'm… I'm here now," I offered.

"'Tsnot good enough," he sighed, breathing hardly himself.

I glared at him. "Do it then. Run me through. But we both know you'll hate yourself. It's not me yer angry at. It's my father."

A murderous look passed over his face but he put the blade in his scabbard and walked away.

I let a breath go and squeezed my eyes shut.

So much for giving it time.

"What was that about, Estrella?" Will asked as I passed by him.

I stopped and turned around. "Unfinished business. And my name isn't really Estrella. It's Luna. Luna Barbossa."

"Barbossa?" He was shocked to say the least. I think I would have been, too.

"Aye, Barbossa."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tortuga has to be my least favorite place in the world.

It was literally my Hell on Earth. Unless of course, you count being stuck with both your father and wanna-be lover at one time, especially if neither one can stand each other. But that's a story for another day.

I stuck close to Jack, praying that he'd still keep me from harm's way, even with the rift between us.

"More importantly it is indeed a sad life that has never breathed deep this sweet bouquet that is Tortuga," Jack continued. He and Mister Turner were having a conversation and I wasn't paying much attention.

Jack paused at the main square. "What do ye think?"

I drew in a deep breath. "I hate it."

Jack glared murderously at me and I sighed.

"It'll linger," Will said finally.

"I'll tell ya, mate," Jack continued, Looking at Will, "if every town in the world were like this one, no man would ever feel unwanted." He twisted to look back at the square just as a redheaded woman came staking towards us. She did not look happy. "Scarlett!" he called walking to her and opening his arms to greet her.

She slapped him, quite hard by to look of it.

"Not sure I deserved that," he mumbled as she stormed off.

He turned back just in time to see yet another woman, this time a blonde.

"Giselle!"

"Who was she?" the woman asked smugly then looked at me. "Who is she?"

"What?"

Giselle slapped him hard as well and left.

"I may have deserved that."

I rolled my eyes and continued walking.

Jack led us to a pig sty that may have been the better smelling part of the island. There's just something about the stench rotten food, rancid rum, vomit and dirty people, along with some other unmentionable things, that made the ode de pig just slightly more preferable.

Jack tossed water from a nearby pail on the man resting with the pigs.

"Curse you for breathing you slack-jawed idiot!" He paused for a moment and looked up at us, letting his eyes adjust, "Mother's love! Jack! You should know better than to wake a man when he's sleeping. It's bad luck."

"Ah, fortunately, I know how to counter it," Jack stated as he began to kneel, "The man who did the waking buys the man who was sleeping a drink. The man who was sleeping drinks it while listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking."

I was a bit confused. Jack Sparrow always had a way with words.

The man looked confused as well. Something must have clicked, because he smiled and said; "That'll about do it."

I still don't know how it reversed the bad luck.

Will threw another bucket of water on him and he freaked.

"Blast! I'm already awake!"

"That was for the smell."

I exchanged a glance with him and shrugged. "Doesn't hurt."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Romanian translations:
> 
> Gandeste-te draga mea - Think my dear.  
> dragoste - love (as in I love you, not pet)


	6. Chapter five

"Keep a sharp eye," Jack warned as he brought the man (Gibbs, if I recall Jack saying) a tankard of rum.

The usual fighting was going on, but it didn't interest me nearly as much as Will. Perhaps it was the fact that I spent the first twenty or so years of my life as the daughter of a pirate. I shuffled back a bit as a couple of brawlers came my way.

"Now, what's the nature of this venture yourn?" I overheard Gibbs as he asked.

I was wondering that a bit myself.

"I'm going after the _Black Pearl_ ," Jack answered. Figures.

Gibbs choked on his drink.

"I know where it's going to be, an' I'm gonna take it," Jack continued.

"Jack," Gibbs said incredulously, "it's a fool's errand. You know better than me the tails of the _Black Pearl._ "

"And I know better than him," I mumbled.

"What?" Will questioned.

"Nothing." I turned back to the conversation.

"That's why I know what Barbossa is up to. All I need is a crew," Jack stated.

_Yeah, and some common sense._

"From what I hear of Captain Barbossa, he's not a man to suffer fools, nor strike a bargain with one."

_Sounds about right._

"Well, I'd say it a very good thing I'm not a fool then, aye?"

"Prove me wrong," Gibbs spat, "What makes you think Barbossa will give up his ship to you?"

"Let's just say it's a matter of leverage, aye?"

From the corner of my eye I saw Will turn to look at Jack and Gibbs. I wonder how much he's heard.

It was silent for a short moment.

"The woman or the kid?"

"That is the only daughter of Hector Barbossa himself, not of much importance." I grit my teeth at this. Who was Jack to say I wasn't important? "And the whelp is the child of Bootstrap Bill Turner. His only child, savvy?"

"Is he, now?" came Gibbs' whispered question. "'Leverage,' says you. 'I think I feel a change in the wind,' says I. I'll find us a crew. There's bound to be some sailors on this rock as crazy as you."

"One can only hope. Take what you can."

"Give nothing back."

* * *

_Music played softly out on the ship._

" _Just some celebratin'," my father mumbled as he led me up the gangplank._

" _What for?" I wondered._

" _We've, er, come across some treasure." He looked at me sheepishly, like he was caught in a lie by his mother._

" _You mean you stole it," I stated seriously, "From whom?"_

" _No one of importance, my dear Luna." He pulled me up into his arms and away from the celebrations. "Now let's get you settled into a room of your own shall we?"_

" _What if the find out that I'm a gypsy, a female one at that? Not very many people are accepting of my kind."_

_He smiled at me. "We're pirates, Luna, none of us care."_

_The scene around me changed. I found myself being pressed against the railing of the_ Wicked Wench, _three or four pirates. I couldn't really count; it could have been twenty for all I know. My tears blurred my vision too much._

" _Make her walk the plank!" one gruff voice called._

" _Yeah! It's bad luck to have a woman on board, even a tiny one!" another bellowed._

" _Not to mention, she's a Gypsy! Who knows how much she's stolen from us!" a third cried._

_I tried to take another step back and slipped, sending myself backwards into the dark abyss of the Caribbean water._

_I struggled to keep my head up, but the shock kept that from happening. A pair of strong arms wrapped around me and I was pulled to the surface. The man tied a rope around my stomach and the two of us were pulled aboard._

" _Barbossa!" the man, who I now recognized as the captain, snapped. "Best keep an eye on your child! Wouldn't want that to happen again."_

I sat up in bed, having stayed in an inn the previous night I was allowed the pleasure, gasping for air. I've not had that particular dream since I was quite young, since I first joined my father on the ship he crewed.

At the time he was quite young himself, barely twenty-four, sailing under a certain Captain Edward Teague. But that's a story for another day.

This particular dream always managed to scare the ever-living daylights out of me. I knew how it ended, of course, but it still scared me.

* * *

"Feast your eye, Capt'n All of 'em faitful hands before the mast. Every man worth his salt. And crazy to boot."

I yawned as Gibbs began his presentations. I had slept soundly last night. But it seemed as though I couldn't keep my mind from wandering to my dream and the more I thought about it the more tired I seemed to be.

"So this is your able-bodied crew?" Will asked.

Jack walked past a few of the men. "You, sailor!"

"Cotton, sir," Gibbs said.

"Mr. Cotton, do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death? Mr. Cotton! Answer, man!" I raised an eyebrow. Someone's a little impatient today.

"He's a mute, sir. Poor devil had his tongue cut out," Gibbs relayed.

Cotton opened his mouth to show us what's left of his tongue, causing me to gag slightly.

"So, he trained the parrot to talk for him. No one's yet figured how," Gibbs finished.

"Mr. Cotton's… parrot. Same question," Jack ordered.

The parrot squawked, "Wind in the sails! Wind in the sails!"

"Mostly we figured that means 'yes.'"

"Of course it does," I answered.

Jack looked to Will. "Satisfied?"

"Well, you've proved they're mad," came his answer.

"And what's the benefit for us?"

Jack had to do a double-take down to the speaker. Unsure of whom it was and if he needed to be on guard, he walked down to the woman, trying to look under her hat.

"Anamaria!" Jack concluded as her took of her hat.

She smacked him, and as always, Jack overacted his reaction.

"I suppose you didn't deserve that one either," I stated, folding my arms.

He nodded. "No, that one I deserved."

"You stole my boat!" Anamaria claimed when he looked back to her.

"Actually—" She slapped him again, harder this time, the loud sound making me cringe. Maybe, we women are over doing the slapping. "Borrowed. Borrowed without permission. But with every intention of bringing it back."

"But you didn't!" she snapped.

"You'll get another one!"

She pointed a finger at him. "I will."

"A better one," Will offered over Jack's shoulder.

"A better one," Jack agreed.

"That one." I pointed over to the _Interceptor._

"What one?" Jack questioned as he looked to where I pointed. "That one?" growled the Captain as he turned back to me.

I raised an eyebrow, daring him to challenge me.

"Aye, that one," he relented. "What say you?"

"Aye!" she answered.

"Aye!" agreed the crew as they walked away.

"No, no, no! Its frightful bad luck to bring a woman aboard, sir!" Gibbs whined. I have a feeling he thinks everything is bad luck.

Jack looked off into the distance, not really focusing on anything. "It'll be far worse not to have her."

"And what am I then? Chopped liver?" I inquired.

He chuckled. "I'd hardly consider you that, darling."

I grit my teeth. "Mark my words, Jack Sparrow; I am not a force to be reckoned with." And with that I stormed off.


	7. Chapter six

I love dancing in the rain. Especially when it pours. Though this was outrageous.

We were caught in possibly the worst storm I've ever seen and it didn't help that I haven't been on a ship at all in nearly ten years.

"How can we sail to an island that nobody can find with a compass that doesn't work?" Will called out.

"Aye, the compass doesn't point north," I responded, "but we're not trying to find north are we?"

He looked at me strangely as I walked away.

The ship leaned a little too far as I walked to the helm, and I stumbled. A pair of strong arms caught me just as I was about to go overboard.

"We should drop canvas!" I screamed.

"She can hold a bit longer."

I looked up to him to see if he was serious, only to find him smiling. "What's in your head that's put you in such a fine mood, _dragoste_?"

"We're catching up."

* * *

"How is it Jack came by that compass?" Will asked as he and Gibbs made their way to where I stood. The storm had been over for quite a while and now we sailed through what could possibly be the most dangerous passage in the Caribbean.

"Not a lot's known about Jack Sparrow 'fore he showed up in Tortuga with a mind to go after the treasure of the Isla de Muerta," Gibbs responded, "That was before I'd met him. Back when he was Captain of the _Black Pearl._ "

"What?" The boy looked to the Captain. "He failed to mention that."

"Aye, he plays things closer to the vest know, er, so I've heard," I told him, "And a hard-learned lesson it was. See, three days out into the venture, his first mate comes to him and says everything's and equal share. That should mean the location of the treasure as well."

"So, Jack gives up the bearings" Gibb piped up, "That night, there was a mutiny."

I took a sip of the rum in my hand and shook my head. "Mmm, not true! It was the next morning. The first rays of the sunrise were peaking through the blinds."

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "They marooned Jack on an island and left him to die, but not before he'd gone mad with the heat."

"Ah. So that's the reason for all the…" Will did a wonderful impression of Jack's drunken demeanor.

"Reason's got nothing to do with it," I stated as I sat on a nearby crate, "Now, Will, when a pirate's marooned he's given a pistol with a single shot. _Un împuşcat_." I held up my finger.

"Well, that won't do much good hunting or to be rescued," Gibbs said as he took over, "But after three weeks of a starving belly and thirst, that pistol start to look real friendly."

"But Jack? Oh, he escaped the island, and he still has that single shot. Oh, he won't use it though, save for one man; his mutinous first mate."

"Barbossa," Will stated matter-of-factly.

"Aye," I took another swig of my rum.

"How did he escape the island?" Will questioned.

I watched as Gibbs animatedly told the obviously exaggerated tale of Jack escape. I didn't much care for the tale myself. It was absolutely ridiculous. Roping a couple of sea turtles; preposterous, really. Especially since that definitely wasn't as original as Jack tells it to be. It actually is quite similar to a story I heard when I was younger, from his father of all people.

"Human hair," Jack responded to a question I hadn't heard, "from my back. Let go the anchor!"

I blinked. I'd been staring up at the helm, not really watching him I assure you, but I still hadn't seen him come over.

"Young Mister Turner and Miss Barbossa and I are to go ashore."

I swallowed one last gulp of rum before I stood to follow the three others.

"Captain, what if the worst should happen?" Gibbs questioned seriously.

"Keep to the Code."

"Aye, the Code."

* * *

"What code is Gibbs to keep if the worst should happen?" Will asked as we rowed through the tunnel. Technically, Jack rowed, Will held tight to a lantern, and I kept my eyes downcast, twiddling my thumbs as I shifted under Jack's leer.

"Pirates Code," Jack answered. "Any man that falls behind is left behind."

"No heroes among thieves, eh?"

"For someone with such a bleak outlook on pirates, you're well on your way to becoming one," I piped up. "Sprung a man from jail, commandeered a ship of the fleet, sailed with a buccaneer crew out o' Tortuga." Both Will and Jack looked over the side of the boat and looked at and overturned chest of gold. "And you're completely obsessed with treasure."

We hit the small embankment and Will pulled the boat up on shore.

"That's not true," Will contradicted, "I am not obsessed with treasure."

Jack helped me out of the boat and his golden-brown eyes looked longingly into my silvery blue ones.

"Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate."

"Gentlemen," my father's voice called as we climbed to watch the ritual, Jack's hand never let mine go, "the time has come! Our salvation is nigh! Our torment is near an end!"

"Elizabeth," Will whispered.

"For ten year's we've been tested and tried, and each man jack of you here has proved his mettle a hundred times over and a hundred times again!" Barbossa cried out.

The crew yelled their assent.

"Suffered, I have!" Ragetti complained.

"Punished, we were, the lot of us. Disproportionate to our crime! Here it is!" My father kicked open the chest of cursed Aztec gold and raked his hand over it. "The cursed treasure of Cortés himself. Every last piece that went astray we have returned. Save for this." He pointed to the medallion resting on Elizabeth's bosom.

"Jack!" Will poised as if he was going to jump and upset some treasure.

"Not yet," Jack warned. "We wait for the opportune moment."

Jack pulled me back down to the boat.

"When's that? When it's of greatest profit to you?" Will badgered as he followed us.

Jack stopped suddenly. "May I ask you something?" He turned to Mr. Turner and got up in his face. "Have I ever given you reason not to trust me?"

"Yes," I wanted to mumble. Something about Jack's demeanor told me not to.

"Do us a favor. I know it's difficult for you, but please... stay here and try not to do anything... stupid."

He pulled me along with him, his fingers still laced with mine.

"Jack?"

"Hmm?"

"Why all of a sudden the change of heart?" I asked confused.

"I'm still your best friend, am I not?"

I never gave the answer, for Will had knocked us out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Romanian Translations:
> 
> Un împuşcat - One shot.


	8. Chapter seven

_I was in some corner below deck, sopping wet from my surprise swim. My knees were pulled up to my chest, my bare arms holding them close. I was sobbing uncontrollably for my mother._

" _You! Girl! What are you doing on me father's ship?"_

_I looked up to see a boy not much older than I. Fourteen at the most. "It's not like I asked to be sent on a pirate ship." I wiped the few remaining tears from my eyes._

" _That don't answer my question."_

" _I ran away from home to escape an arranged marriage and to find my real father," I sneered._

_He looked at me suspiciously, "You're hardly seven and yet you're arranged to be married? Ha! Thought you could pull one over on Jack Sparrow did ye?"_

" _Well, Jack Sparrow, for your information I'm nine, and as per Romani tradition any boy from my caravan from the ages nine to twelve can choose me to be his wife," I sneered._

_Jack Sparrow squinted at me before he broke into a smile, "I like you. What's your name?"_

" _Luna. Luna Petu-" I stopped and thought for a second. That wasn't me anymore. I wasn't the well-behaved Gypsy girl. I was the daughter of a fearsome pirate. "Luna Barbossa," I told him using my father's last name._

" _Luna Barbossa, eh? Nice name. I think we can find a place on this ship for you after all, savvy?" he winked at me as he helped me up._

* * *

When I woke, it wasn't without discipline. I had a raging headache and my back was sore.

Jack was already up and stumbling about. I tried to follow him without much avail.

We managed to make our way back to the boats, only to be stopped by the crew of the _Black Pearl_.

"You two," Ragetti pointed to us in disbelief.

"You're supposed to be dead," Pintel snapped.

Jack turned to me. "Am I not?" I shrugged as we stumbled back the way we came, only to be blocked by another group of crewmembers.

Both groups drew their pistols forcing us to stay where we were.

I sighed heavily as Jack tried to figure something out in his drunken state.

"Palulay. Palu-li-la-la-lulu. Parlili. Parsnip, parsley, partner, partner. Howdy partner. Howdy do partner? Howdy do partner," Jack mumbles.

"Parley?" I offer.

"That's the one! Parley! Parley!"

"Parley? Damn to the depths whatever man that thought up 'parley'!" Pintel said through his teeth.

Jack put his fingers on the barrels of Pintel gun and moves it from pointing at his face. "That would be the French. Latin based, of course. Inventors of mayonnaise."

"I like mayonnaise," Pintel says.

"A shame about the French. Obsessed with raisins. Humiliated grapes really. Think about it."

I covered my mouth with my hand to stifle the laugh begging to be free.

"Don't know," Pintel said.

"Terrific singers, the French," I added.

Jack halfheartedly whistled. "Eunuchs, all of them."

"That's not right", one pirate spoke up.

"I used to date a eunuch," Pintel told us.

"We'll get our coats," I stated as I pulled Jack back the way we came.

It didn't take long for us to meet up with Barbossa. Not really looking forward to a family reunion, I stuck to hiding behind Jack, gnawing on my nail.

"How the blazes did you get of that island?" my father questioned.

"When you marooned me on that godforsaken spit of land, you forgot one very important thing, mate," Jack tells him, "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."

It takes most of my will not to laugh at his oversized ego.

"Ah, well, I won't be making that mistake again. Gents, you all remember Captain Jack Sparrow? Kill him."

The men chuckled and drew their weapons.

" _Aşteptaţi_!" I called out. "The girl's blood didn't work, did it?"

"Hold your fire! You, wench, who are you?"

With a deep breath I stepped out from behind Jack and smiled. "Aw, _tată_ , I thought we got along better than that."

"Luna? Is that really you?" he wondered.

"Honestly? Does no one recognize me? I mean, seriously. No one else in the world has hair like mine."

He chuckled and pulled me into a hug. "Oh, Luna, I thought you were dead."

"Obviously I'm not." I stepped out of his embrace and took Jack's hand. "We know whose blood you need."

* * *

"So you expect to leave me standing on some beach with nothing but a name and your word it's the one I need and watch you sail away in my ship?" My father chuckled.

"No. I expect to leave you on standing on some beach with absolutely no name at all, watching me sail away on _my_ ship, and then I'll have Luna shout the name back at you. Savvy?"

I had to admit. I was enjoying myself as the bickering continued over not only a ship but the name to some random whelp. As short lived as their semi-truce was. And Jack seemed to recognize me, the monkey that is. He sat on my shoulder as I pet him.

"But that still leaves us with the problem of me on some beach with naught but a name and your word it's the one I need."

Jack picked up an apple, looking for a good one to eat. "Of the three of us, I am the only one who hasn't committed mutiny. Therefore, my word is the one we'll be trusting." He found his perfect apple and tossed me another one.

"I had no part in that, Jack, I've already told you this," I took a bit of my apple, "I even went so far as to warn you, but I guess your thoughts were, um, er… _în altă parte;_ elsewhere." I blushed when I realized how that must've sounded. Yes, right before Jack was mutinied; we'd decided to take our friendship to the next level. And I mean right before. That's what we were talking about when the crew burst in.

Not to say we hadn't been together on previous nights, just not for years. Not since that tavern proclaimed a room to be 'Sparrow's Nest'.

"Besides the point, love," Jack said as he sat in a nearby chair and put his feet up, "I suppose I should be thanking you, Barbossa, because, in fact, if you hadn't betrayed me and left me to die, Luna wouldn't have forced you to take her back to Tortuga, and we would've had an equal share in that curse, same as you." He took a bite of his apple and offered it to Barbossa. "Funny ol' worl' innit?"

"Captain, we're coming up on the _Interceptor,_ " the bo'sun said.

Jack and I followed as my father left his cabin.

"I'm having a thought here, _tată_ ," I call, using the Romanian word for father, as he looks to the navy ship through his spy glass, "What say we run up a flag of truce, I board the _Interceptor,_ and I negotiate the return of your precious little medallion, what say you to that?"

He smiles to me and speaks gently, "Now you see, Luna, that's exactly the attitude that lost Jack the _Pearl._ "

"But I'm not Jack, now am I?"

"People are easier to search when their dead." I rolled my eyes at his comment and took another bite of my apple. "Lock Sparrow in the brig. Luna is to stay in my cabin."

One of the crew members grabbed Jack and dragged him away.

"With all due respect, I prefer to stay with me Captain."

"Unacceptable."

I shrugged. "Well, never said you'd agree." I walked do to the main deck and looked around. "Pintel? Lock me in the brig, would ya?"

He glanced at me as if I'd lost my mind. "Why would you want that, Miss Luna?"

"Captain's orders."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Romanian translation:
> 
> Aşteptaţi – Wait


	9. Chapter eight

"First time I've been down here," I state as I take a seat on a bench in the rickety iron cell, "period. I've normally been on good terms with the captain. Whoever he is at the moment."

Jack looked to me in almost disgust, "Glad to see your enjoying yourself."

"If that's what you want to call it." I tapped my foot impatiently, humming under my breath.

"What are you singing?"

"I'm not. I'm humming."

"Fine. What are you humming?" he corrected himself.

"Something Miss Elizabeth taught me when she was younger."

"How long have you been a maid?" Jack asked snidely.

"Six years, I believe. And I'm not a maid. I was a governess, now I'm simply a lady-in-waiting."

"You, a nanny?" he wondered, disbelief clearly evident, "I can hardly believe that."

"Go back to staring out your hole."

And he did, too. It was quiet between us, but not awkward. I'm not entirely sure what I expected to pull off by locking myself, or rather having myself locked up in a small iron cell with him.

I made it through three verses before Jack and I were thrown on to each other. And lucky we were, not even thirty seconds later cannon fire blew right over us.

"Stop blowing holes in my ship!" Jack tried to yell to his crew.

I shook my head superficially and sat up as Jack snatched Gibbs' flask from the water and tried to drink from it. But, alas, it was empty. I spotted the blown lock on the door and called to Jack to follow me. Together, we climbed up to the main deck. Somewhere along the way, he grabbed on to my wrist and pulled me along.

It was pure chaos when we finally made it. Jack pulled me up on the railing and wrapped his arm around me. He stole a rope from a guy who was trying to board the _Pearl_.

"Thanks very much. Hold on tight," Jack mumbled as we ourselves swayed to the other ship. We landed haphazardly, using each other to keep us upright. I immediately went to Miss Elizabeth's aide.

"Sorry for the delay, Miss Elizabeth," I tell her as I ward of one of Father's crewmen.

"Estrella?" she questioned appalled.

"Not exactly."

I didn't have time to explain as a particularly mad looking man grabbed Elizabeth's arm. He lifted his arm to swing at her with his sword, but Jack caught his wrist before he could harm her.

"That's not very nice," Jack commented. I hit him with the hilt of my blade and knocked him overboard.

We were suddenly bombarded with gunshots, and Jack pulled Miss Elizabeth out of harm's way. Damn blonde, stealing my best friend.

"Where is the medallion?" he quizzed her.

She drew her hand back to hit him. "Wretch!" I stopped her hand before she could do much damage.

"Ah, where is dear William?" Jack wondered.

"Will!" came Miss Swann's worried answer as she hurried off to where ever Will could be found.

Jack (the monkey) pounced by us and Captain Jack took off after it. The two climbed over the mast, stalked closely by me, stopping right at Barbossa's feet.

"Why, thank you, Jack," Barbossa said as he took the medallion from the monkey.

"You're welcome," Jack (the pirate) replied.

"Oh, not you," I sneered, "He named the monkey 'Jack'."

The monkey smiled causing me to giggle.

"Gents, our hope is restored!" my father called out.

The cursed crew cheered. I crossed my arms a bit put out.

* * *

"If any of you so much as thinks the word 'parley', I'll have your guts for garters," Pintel threatened the hostages.

"Parley!" I called. I, of course, wasn't among them, being the Captain's daughter tends to give you privileges as so.

Elizabeth escaped the poorly tied ropes just milliseconds before the _Interceptor_ exploded.

"You've got to stop it!" she screeched as she attacked Barbossa. "Stop it!"

He captured her arms easily to stop her. "Welcome back, Miss. You took advantage of our hospitality the last time. It holds fair now that you return the favor." He tossed her to a group of groping crewmembers.

"Barbossa!"

Everyone turned, most in shock, others not really caring, and then there was me, the only one with a smug look on their face.

There Will stood in all his glory, on the railing. He plopped down, grabbed Jack's pistol (why anyone would just let it lay around is beyond me), and pointed at my father.

"She goes free."

Barbossa, with a confused expression, asked what was going on in his mind.

"She goes free!" he stated again.

I rolled my eyes. "Got that the first time."

"You've only got one shot and we can't die," Barbossa told him.

"Don't do anything stupid," Jack begged.

"You can't," Will agreed as he stepped back onto the rail and pointed the pistol at his chin, "I can."

"Like that," I whispered.

"Who are you?" Dad asked.

" _Nici unul_! He's no one," I claimed stepping between them, "A distant cousin of my mother's sister's nephew twice removed. Lovely singing voice, though." As a second thought I added, "Eunuch."

He looked at me sternly. "Nice try. But none of your mother's family looks remotely close to that."

"Like you would know," I snapped back, "I doubt you've met a single one."

He challenged me with a glare but Will had other plans. "My name is Will Turner. My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner. His blood runs through my veins."

I sighed and gave up, walking over to where Jack stood.

"Good try, love," he whispered in my ear.

"We're screwed," I whispered back.

"He's the spitting image of old Bootstrap Bill come back to haunt us," Ragetti pointed out.

"On my word, do as I say, or I'll pull this trigger and be lost to Davy Jones' locker," Will threatened.

"Name your terms, Mr. Turner."

"Elizabeth goes free!"

"Yes, we know that one. Anything else?"

Jack made a big commotion of pointing to himself.

Will looked from Jack and I to the crew and waved his pistol around a bit. "And the crew. The crew are not to be harmed."

Jack's face fell when he realized Will wasn't going to protect him.

"Agreed," my father sneered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Romanian translation:
> 
> Nici unul - No one


	10. Chapter nine

Miss Elizabeth stood on the edge of the plank, holding her dress to her knees, as the crew urged her over the edge. Off in the distance was a small, empty island.

"Barbossa, you lying bastard! You swore she'd go free!" Will yelled as two pirates held him back.

Barbossa turned to him rigidly. "Don't dare impugn me honor, boy. I agreed she'd go free, but it was you who forgot to specify when or where."

The crew laughed as Mister Turner was dragged back.

My father looked to Miss Elizabeth and spoke, "Though does seem a shame to lose something so fine, don't it, lads?" The crewmembers murmured their assent. "So, I'll be having that dress back before you go."

Elizabeth appeared shocked as she stripped the dress off, but became disgusted as it was thrown to him. "Goes with your black heart."

"Ooh, it's still warm," he said as he tossed it.

The crew, namely Pintel and Ragetti, went back to badgering Elizabeth. Eventually, they got sick of her simply standing there and someone stomped on the plank causing her to fall into the sea.

Jack was next to go. "I'd really rather hoped we were past all this."

"Jack…" Barbossa crooned as he placed his arm on Jack's shoulders, "Jack. Did you not notice? That be the same little island that we made you governor of on our last little trip."

"I did notice."

As did I, and I wasn't too particularly happy about it.

"Perhaps you'll be able to conjure up another miraculous escape," Barbossa suggested, "But I doubt it." He drew his sword. "Off you go."

I shuffled nervously. My father was losing his patience and fast.

"Last time you left me a pistol with one shot," Jack mentioned.

"By the powers, you're right," Father claimed. "Where be Jack's pistol? Bring it forward."

Someone passed Jack's effects forth.

"Seeing as there's two of us," Jack prompted, "a gentleman would give us a pair of pistols."

"It'll be one pistol as before, and you can be the gentleman and shoot the lady and starve to death yourself." Barbossa threw Jack's things into the water and Jack immediately dove for them.

I pushed my way through the group to my dad. "Excuse me. _Scuze_. Pardon me. Coming through. I'll take that," I said as I snatched my sword and scabbard from someone I didn't recognize and started to walk off the plank.

"Luna, what do ye think yer doing?" my father asked, snagging my arm.

"The same thing I should've done eight years ago;" I snapped, "Going after my best friend." I pulled my arm back and took the last few steps to the edge. "Until my daring escape," I bowed, "I bid you adieu." With that being said, I too dove off.

Out of breath, I crawled on to the beach a little ways from where Jack and Elizabeth stood.

"That's the second time I've had to watch that man sail away with my ship," Jack moaned breathlessly.

"At least I'm here," I called to him.

Jack turned around and the brightest grin lit up his face. "Luna, love, glad you could make it."

I smirked. "I only make a mistake once, Jackie."

Elizabeth started walking then.

I sat down and began to take the braid out of my hair. Looking out at the sea as it called to me.

"You let your hair grow out," Jack pointed out as he sat next to me.

"Yes, I did."

"Why?"

I shrug. "I enjoy long hair. Though it tends to get in the way sometimes. The boy cut I had before made it easier to hide who I was. I guess I was tired of being someone else."

He nodded understandingly and began messing with his pistol.

" _A faithful woman wronged by her gentle lover, A man forever doomed to chase another,_ " I recited under my breath.

"What was that?" Jack wondered.

"Nothing…" I mumbled.

"Oh that was definitely something."

"Something I have to remember, all right?" I turned my attention back to my braid.

It was silent between us, but not uncomfortable. We just simply enjoyed each other's company.

When I finished re-braiding my hair, I slipped my boots off and stood. "Care for a swim, _dragoste_?"

He shook his head and went back to the ritualistic cleaning of his pistol.

I was just coming out of the water when Elizabeth stopped in front of us nearly a half hour later, staring at her footprints.

"It's really not all that big, is it?" Jack spoke up.

"If you're going to shoot me, please do so without delay."

Jack leaned forward, his arms resting on his knees. "Is there a problem between us, Miss Swann?"

"You were going to tell my father about Will in exchange for a ship," I told him, "I'd be pretty moody too."

"We could use a ship," he said snidely. "The fact is; I was going to not tell Barbossa about bloody Will in exchange for a ship. As long as he didn't know about bloody Will, I had something to bargain with, which now no one has, thanks to bloody stupid Will."

Jack stood and Elizabeth looked to the sand. "Oh," she replied sheepishly.

"Oh," I mocked.

"He still risked his life to save ours."

"She's right, you know," I told him.

"HA!" he scorned before stormed off. Elizabeth followed closely, whereas I chose to stay back a bit.

"But we have to do something!" Elizabeth declared.

He stopped and turned on his heels. "Off you go then," he shooed her, "Let me know how that turns out."

"But you were marooned on this island before, weren't you? We can escape it the same way you did then."

"To what point and purpose, young missy?"Jack quizzed as he stopped sharply. "The _Black Pearl_ is gone. Unless either of you have a rudder and a lot of sails hidden in your tops. Unlikely." It didn't pass me by that Jack stared quite intently at Elizabeth's bosom. "Young Mr. Turner will be dead long before you can reach him." He continued to walk away, stopping only to knock on a tree.

"But you're Captain Jack Sparrow," I tell him (like he needed an ego boost at the moment). He took four large steps as I continued to ramble. "You vanished under the eyes of seven agents of the East India Company. You sacked Nassau Port without even firing a shot." He began to jump up and down as I came around to face him. "Are you the pirate I sailed with or not? How did you really escape last time?"

Taking my arms in his hands, he pushed me a step backwards. A moment passed and he simply looked at me as if he was debating something. "Last time," he spoke finally, "I was here a grand total of three days, all right?" He bent down to the spot he was bouncing on. "Last time…" he lifted a patch of sand to reveal a trap door. "The rumrunners used this island as a cache, came by, and I was able to barter passage off." He climbed down into the cellar and glanced around. "From the looks of things, they've long been out of business. Probably have your bloody friend Norrington to thank for that." He handed Elizabeth a bottle of rum, snagged another two more and climbed up.

"So that's it then?" I wondered as he closed the space between us. "That's the secret _grand_ adventure of the infamous Jack Sparrow? You spent three days lying on a beach, drinking rum?"

"Welcome to the Caribbean, love." Jack pushed me out of the way and walked back to where we were sitting before.

"So, is there any truth to the other stories?" Elizabeth questioned as she followed us.

"Truth?" he asked. Pulling up his sleeve, he showed her his pirate brand and sparrow tattoo. On his left arm, a scar that traveled the path of his veins. Two gunshot wounds on his chest ended the presentation. "No truth at all."

I grabbed the bottle in Elizabeth's hands and plopped down in the sand, staying out of it for the moment. Jack sat down to my left and started drinking.

"We still have a month, maybe more. Keep a weathered eye out for any ships passing by."

"What about Will? We have to do something."

He replaced the bottle's cork and held up a finger. "You're absolutely right," he told her, rolling the bottle to her. It landed at her feet and she looked at it like she had no idea what it was.

Jack and I toasted our bottles. "Here's to you, Will Turner," I say and take a swig.

Elizabeth picked her bottle up as the water tried claiming it, uncorked it and joined us in seating. "Drink up, me hearties, yo ho."

Jack turned to her. "What was that, Elizabeth?" he asked as she took a drink.

"It's Miss Swann. Nothing. Just a song I learnt as a child when I actually thought it would be exciting to meet a pirate."

"Let's hear it."

"No."

"Oh, come on, Miss Elizabeth, we've got the time," I say a bit more rudely than I meant. "Let's have it."

" _No_. I'd have to have a lot more to drink."

I eyed her bottle before asking, "How much more?"


	11. Chapter ten

" _We're devils, we're black sheep, we're really bad eggs. Drink up, me hearties, yo ho. Yo ho, yo ho, A pirates life for me_!" the three of us sang as we danced around the bonfire.

"I love this song!" I declared. "Really bad eggs."

I spun Jack around, giggling uncontrollably, my rum long gone, and he fell, pulling Elizabeth and I down with him.

"When I get the _Pearl_ back," he said into Miss Swann's laughing face, "I'm gonna teach it to the whole crew. And we'll sing it all the time!"

"And you will be positively the most fearsome pirates in the Spanish Main," she staked her claim.

Jack turned to me and smiled. "Not just the Spanish Main, love," he contradicted.

"The entire ocean. The entire world." I swept my hand out to the horizon. "Wherever we'll want to go, we'll go."

"Oh?"

"That's what a ship is, you know," he told us, his words slurring, "It's not just a keel and a haul and a deck and sails. That's what a ships needs. But what a ship is, what the _Black Pearl_ really is…"

" _Libertate_ ," I slur, "Freedom." He squints at me but remains jolly. "Jack," I sighed laying my head on his shoulder, "it must be really terrible for you to be trapped on this island."

He looked at me a bit strangely but put his arm around me. "Oh, yes. But the company is infinitely better than last time, I think." He leans down to me and brushes his lips on my nose.

Elizabeth shoots us a dirty glare, but I ignore it. I'm not sure Jack saw it at all.

"The scenery has definitely improved," he murmured.

"Has it?" I ask.

"Most definitely." He stares in to my eyes and I can't spot a single cloud of deceit in them.

Just as our lips brush, Elizabeth and her pompous self barges in with a "Mr. Sparrow?"

"Hmm?" he hummed in question, looking over his shoulder to her.

"I'm not entirely sure I've had enough rum to allow that kind of talk."

"Then leave," I snap.

Jack taps my nose with his pointer finger, "Now, now, my little Gypsy Lu, there's no reason to bite heads off."

"But Jackie, I haven't seen you in ten years," I whined. "It's been a terribly _long_ ten years. The least she could do is allow me one little _sărut_."

"I know exactly what you mean, love." He curled his moustache up in a goofy fashion, before leaning in to kiss me again.

Of course Elizabeth had other plans. She pushed her bottle between us. "To freedom."

"To the _Black Pearl_." Jack clanked his bottle to hers. Bringing the bottle to his lips, he gulped the rest of it down, falling on to his back.

Ignoring my mistress's look of intrigue, I laid down beside him and snuggled close, looking up to the near full moon.

" _A faithful woman wronged by her gentle lover; A man forever doomed to chase another._ _From daylights first awakening breath, To the transitioning night of the next, He'll be waiting for you, eternally yours, The daughter of the moon that travels the shores._ "

Jack turned to look at me. "Didn't you tell me you'd never tell me?"

I pause in my reciting just long enough to shush him.

" _From dusk until dawn, an unfaithful man, Until she faces her death in the sand. Beauty untouched by any mortals Is found upon an island of turtles. There she meets her one true love With a kiss as gentle as a dove._

 _But if his thoughts are then untrue, There is nothing a gypsy's magic can do. The curse will remain unbroken as so, As it was placed so forever ago. Romani words spoken so rash, To a woman thought of merely as trash._ "

"'Tis beautiful, darling."

"Only until you hear the story," I enlighten him.

"Do tell, dearie."

"It's about a Romani woman named Sara whose lover died. She finds refuge in another gypsy's husband. They eventually become lovers as well. One day, the gypsy finds her husband with Sara. She's infuriated and places a curse on the woman, but not before she kills her husband in front of Sara. The curse is this; Sara, and her eldest daughter (should she have many) and her eldest daughter's eldest daughter, and so on and so forth, shall forever be forced to fall in love with any man they think attractive, only to have him be unfaithful and hurt her in her weakest moment.

"The poem tells of a way to break the curse. _A faithful woman wronged by her gentle lover;/ A man forever doomed to chase another._ I don't need to define that. It's self-explanatory. _From daylights first awakening breath,/To the transitioning night of the next,/He'll be waiting for you, eternally yours;/The daughter of the moon that travels the shores._ For two days, her lover will wait for her; the vagrant child of the moon.

" _From dusk until dawn, an unfaithful man,/Until she faces her death in the sands._ The second night he'll spend in another woman's arms, save for when he witnesses her near murder on the beach. _Beauty untouched by any mortals/Is found upon an island of turtles._ I suppose, this could either mean the island of turtles itself or the woman is otherworldly beautiful." I shrug, but carry on.

" _There she meets her one true love/With a kiss as gentle as a dove./But if his thoughts are then untrue,/There is nothing a gypsy's magic can do./The curse will remain unbroken as so,/As it was placed so forever ago._ With a gentle kiss and a pure, unselfish thought, the curse will be lifted."

I look over to see Jack sleeping and I follow soon, after shutting my eyes, but not before I placed a kiss on his smiling lips.

* * *

" _Take me back."_

_My father looked up from his newly claimed quarters and frowned._

" _What?"_

" _Take me back to Tortuga!" I snapped again._

_He looked my disheveled appearance over once, twice, three times before his gaze finally landed on my reddened, tear-stained face._

" _Why?"_

" _Because I can't live on the same ship as a bunch of mutineers," I sneered. You'd have to be deaf to not here the worry and pain evident in my voice._

" _No." He turned back to his charts and ignored me._

" _Either take me back now, or I will jump and swim my way back."_

_He took in my appearance again, this time staring into my eyes. I don't know what he expected to find there other than shock, disappointment, worry, anger…_

" _You love him." He said it with such conviction, I was sure that he'd already known. For a while, at least._

_I turned away from his penetrating leer and looked to the floor. "No. Never. I know my place."_

" _You do." He sighed heavily. "Why have I never seen it before? He's much too old for you Luna! He would hurt you."_

_I glared at him with as much strength as I could muster. "He's hardly six years my senior! And he wouldn't have hurt me anymore the curse would have caused him! But now… now I'll never see him again."_

_He growled and threw an empty bottle. It smashed near my head._

" _Take me to Tortuga."_

" _As you wish."_

* * *

I woke in Jack's arms and to the smell of burning alcohol, interestingly enough. And to make matters worse, I had a raging headache, the main symptom of a massive hangover.

Wait, burning alcohol? The rum!

I sit up and shake Jack awake. "Jack, come on! Get up!"

I look over to where the smell originated. Elizabeth was burning half the island!

"No! Not good!" I screamed as I scrambled up. "Stop! Not good!" I waved my arms trying to get Elizabeth's attention. "You burned all the food, the shade! The rum!"

"Yes, the rum is gone," Miss Swann stated, lackadaisically.

"Why is the rum gone?"

"One," she snapped turning to me, "because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men and women into complete scoundrels. Two, that signal is over a thousand feet high. I have the entire Royal Navy looking for me. Do you really think there is even the slightest chance they won't see it?"

"But why is the rum gone?" Jack asked as he joined me.

She turned and sat down in the sand. "Just wait, Estrella, Captain Sparrow. Give it one hour maybe two, keep a weathered eye out and then you will see white sails on that horizon."

"For the last time, _dragoste_ , my name isn't Estrella," I shrieked. "It's Luna!"

I stormed off to the lonelier, less burnt part of the island.

"'Must've been terrible for you to be trapped here, Jack,'" Jack mocked in a high pitched voice as he followed me, "'Must've been terrible for you-' Well, it bloody is now!"

"Glad you think so! I was worried you having a grand old time!"

I went into the jungle, not bothering to see if Jack followed. He never did. It wasn't until I saw white sails retreating to the horizon, did I realize that they left me on the island alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Romanian translations:
> 
> dragoste - love as in the feeling not the pet name  
> sărut - kiss


	12. Chapter eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter (and the rest of this story, if I remember correctly) is in 3rd person point-of-view. Sorry about the change, I had a writer's breakdown. Luna's POV wasn't working for me.

"Begun by blood. By blood un-"

"Jack!" Will exclaimed.

"It's not possible," Barbossa muttered.

"Not probable," Jack corrected as he made his way through the crowd.

Will struggled to stand up and get a better look at Jack. "Where's Elizabeth and Luna?"

"Elizabeth's safe, just like I promised. She's all set to marry Norrington, just like she promised. You get to die for her, just like you promised. And Luna's somewhere remembering the curse, just like she promised. So we're all men of our word, really. Except for Elizabeth and Luna, who are in fact, women," Jack answered.

"Where is my daughter?" Barbossa sneered.

Jack brought his thumb nail to his mouth. "Um, actually about her. Well... I don't know... exactly."

"You... don't... know?" Barbossa was clearly trying to hold back a lot more anger than anyone thought he was capable of.

"Not exactly," Jack repeated.

"Shut up! You're next!" He motioned for Jack to be held back and went back to slitting Will's throat.

"You don't want to be doing that, mate."

"No, I really think I do."

Jack shrugged. "Your funeral."

Barbossa rolled his eyes and looked back to Jack. "Why don't I want to be doing it?"

"Well because…" he slapped the hand that was holding him back off his shoulder.

"Because the _HSM Dauntless_ , pride of the Royal Navy, is floating just offshore, waiting for you."

Everyone turned to look at the owner of the voice. It wasn't hard to spot her. There she stood, just behind Barbossa.

"Now that's not possible," Jack mumbled inaudibly.

"Oh, but it is Jack," Luna claimed. "When you and your little… _curv_ _ă_ left me on that island you forgot one very important thing. I'm a gypsy. A cursed one at that."

Jack took this moment to look at her.

Her hair, unbraided and strange as it was, was held back by a bright teal scarf and wafted slightly in a breeze that effected no else. Her eyes, lined with kohl and shadowed with greens, blues, and purples, seemed to glow an eerie silvery color. Her lips painted a deep red. Her shirt, if you could call it that, was a bright lavender with sleeves that were cut lengthwise and tied at her elbows and wrists. The purple skirt she wore was long and flowing and had a moon and star design embroidered on it. Over this, was a deep green sash covered in gold coins and tied off to the side. Her neck was covered in many jewels of bright colors, some unrecognizable. Her wrists and ankles alike, swathed in ribbons and bracelets.

She looked every bit of the gypsy she claimed to be.

Barefooted, she stepped closer. "As I was saying, Jack here wants you and your men to row out to the _Dauntless_ , where the entire crew will be waiting for you. That is if you make it that far. Unfortunately, Commodore Norrington did not listen to Sparrow either, he and a bunch of others are waiting for you just outside the entrance to your little… _comoar_ _ă_ of an island here."

Jack glared at her, and she shot him a 'that's what you get' look.

"However, let's say you find another way out there. Well, your crew does what they do best. Robert's your uncle, Fannie's your aunt. There you are with two ships. The makings of your very own fleet." She hopped over to a pile of treasure and rifled through it. "Of course, you'll take the grandest as your flagship, and who's to argue? But what of the _Pearl_? Name me _c_ _ăpitan_. I'll sail under your colors, give you… hmmm, let's say 10% of my plunder and you get to introduce yourself as Commodore Barbossa. _Pricepe_?" She picked up an amethyst medallion and clasped it onto her neck.

"I suppose in exchange, you want me to not kill the whelp," her father assumed.

She waved it off with a jeweled hand. "Not at all. By all means, kill the whelp, just not quite yet."

"She's right," Jack interrupted, a bit put out that the damn wench upstaged him. "Wait to lift the curse until the opportune moment." He shifted his vision from Will to Barbossa. "For instance…" Jack took a handful of coins from the chest, "After you've killed Norrington's men. Every. Last. One." With each word, he returned a coin.

 _Salvare pentru unul_ , Luna thought.

"You've been planning this from the beginning," Will accused them, "Ever since you learned my name."

"Ever since _Jack_ learnt your name," Luna corrected, "I was going to let Jack have the glory of the plan, _was_ being key. But then he had to go ruining everything when he unceremoniously hurt me on that island. Even then I was willing to let him have it. And then... he left me." She smiled evilly up at him.

"I want 50% of yer plunder," Barbossa argued.

"15!"

"40!"

"25! I'll buy you the hat. A really big one, _Comodore,_ " Luna tempted as she made her way back to the chest.

Barbossa thought this over for a moment then stuck out his hand and claimed, "We have an accord!"

Luna shook her father's hand and smiled brightly.

"All hands to the boats!" Jack ordered. "Apologies. You give the orders."

"Gents, take a walk."

The crew chuckled devilishly as they left the cave.

"Not to the boats?" Jack asked.

"Of course not, you fool," Luna sneered as she went back to digging through treasure, "We're trying to not be so _evident_ at the moment."

Jack, as well, excavated the treasure.

"I must admit, Luna, I thought I had you figured. But it turns out you're a hard lass to predict."

Luna, who was looking at some gold mirror, stalked towards her father. "Me? Everything I know I learned from you, so I find that shocking."

Barbossa shrugged a bit too smugly.

"But most of all, I'm a gypsy. Gypsies are known for being dishonest. And a dishonest person you can always trust to be well dishonest. _Sincer._ It's the honest ones you want to look out for," she dropped the mirror, "because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly… _prost_." She looked to Will as she stole a sword from a pirate who was looking in a pool of water at some spilled treasure.

She tossed it to him and drew her own as one of the pirates lunged at her.

Jack advanced on Barbossa who quickly parried it.

Will only fought for his life, not quite sure whose side Luna and Jack were on. The only thing he did know was they weren't with each other.

Luna, as well as she did, kept her head and managed to disarm the pirate she fought. However, she lost her footing at the exact moment her father ran Jack through.

"No!" but the sound barely came out as a whisper.

Jack stumbled into the moonlight and Luna remembered. He'd stolen the coin. Even so, she still felt a loss as she witnessed the skeletal Jack stand there, sword where his heart should be, flipping the coin in his fingers.

"Couldn't resist, mate."

She couldn't look for much longer, for yet another pirate lunged at her.

An explosion knock her and Will backwards and into each other.

"I'm going to teach you the meaning of pain," a pirate growled as he moved to attack them.

"Do you like pain?" Elizabeth asked as she knocked him out with a large gold pole. "Try wearing a corset."

"Glad you could make it. _Plăcea să stau şi chat-ul_ …" Luna mumbled as she ran off to find her cutlass.

"Whose side is Luna and Jack on?" Elizabeth wondered.

"At the moment?" Will questioned, "Whatever side the other's not on."

Will and Elizabeth shish kabob-ed the remaining three pirates with the pole. Stuffing a bomb into one's stomach, they pushed them into the shadows. The resulting explosion distracted everyone.

Jack took his coin and sliced his hand before tossing it to Will. Catching this, Barbossa regretfully turns his pistol on Luna as she hopped across a pool of seawater.

A shot rang out and Luna's breath caught.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Romanian translations:  
> curvă - slut/strumpet (couldn't figure out what I wanted to use there)  
> comoară - treasure  
> căpitan - captian  
> Pricepe - Savvy  
> Salvare pentru unul - Save for one  
> Comodore - Commodore  
> Evident - obvoiuos  
> sincer - honestly  
> Prost - stupid  
> Plăcea să stau şi chat-ul - Love to stay and chat


	13. Chapter twelve

A stunned Barbossa turned to Jack, "Ten years you carry that pistol, and now you waste your shot."

"He didn't waste it."

Everyone turned to Will who had both coins in his hand outstretched over the chest.

Everything seemed to go by so slowly as I registered what just happened.

A sharp pain made itself known in my stomach. My hands immidiately went to the wound as I doubled in pain. I stumbled into the foot deep water, my shallow breaths echoing in my ears. I rinsed the wound out as Elizabeth came crashing into me.

"Luna, let me see it," Elizabeth ordered.

I managed to shake my head as I strived to look for something.

"I feel…cold."

My father fell and a green apple rolled from his hands. His favorite.

" _V_ _ă_ _c_ _ăpcăun_!" I screamed. " _Cum ai putut_!?" But I knew how, even before he shouted his answer of "He shot you, Luna." And it made sense to me. But there's a fine line of sanity between knowing something horrible is going to happen to someone you love dearly and seeing it actually happen.

I can't recall how, but the next thing I know, I'm lying in Jack's arms mumbling something I can't even understand as he soothed me.

"I'm so sorry, Lu," he murmurs as he lays me on the ground. His hand is pressed against my wound. "This is all my fault." He ran his hand through my hair.

I shook my head again and looked to my left still searching. Poking out of a pile of treasure was a silver knife. I wiggled out of Jack's grasp with much trouble and reached for the knife. The metal felt chilly in my hands as I tried to remove the shot.

"Lu, stop! You're going to make it worse!" Jack called out and tried stilling my hands.

"Jack, relax. I know what I'm doing. This isn't the first time I've been shot." It was amazing how I could keep my head as I put myself through excrutiating physical pain. When I finally did remove the shot, I dipped my hand in the water and brought it back to the wound. A warmth flowed from my hand and the pain melted away.

"Told you it wasn't my first time. _Acum, plec şi vă rog să nu mă urmeze. Nu vreau să aibă de a te ranesc si eu sunt de aproape,"_ I held up my thumb and forefinger before stoming out of the cave.

I heard somone try following me. "Don't," Jack says, "Trust me, you don't want to follow her."

* * *

The day of Jack's hanging came much too soon. Not wanting to see the last person I care about alive killed, I managed to make my way to the cliff overlooking the sea.

Miss Elizabeth more or less convinced the Governor to grant me clemency, alongside Will. However, getting my job back was another thing entirely.

So I did what gypsies do best; I roamed. I didn't really fit it any longer, now that my secret was out. People looked at me strange, always on guard.

Where I stood at the moment, I could still hear the drums, if only faintly. Trying unsuccessfully to tune them out, something on the horizon caught my eye. Taking a chance, I dove in to the warm water and swam out to the glorious ship.

"Where be Jack?" Gibbs asked as he finally pulled me aboard.

I sighed. "Dead probably. Today's the day of his hanging. Perhaps Mister Turner has some odd plan, but I doubt it."

There was a faint splash that came from the fort.

" _Sau nu_."

It wasn't long before we pulled Jack aboard as well.

"Thought you supposed to keep to the Code," Jack complained.

"We figured they were more actual guidelines," Gibbs answered as he helped Jack off his butt.

Cotton handed Jack his hat, for which he was thanked, and Anamaria placed his coat over his shoulders. "The _Black Pearl_ is yours."

Jack sauntered over to the tiller with such a goofy grin. I frowned. The way he caressed it proved that his one and only love was always going to her.

"On deck, you scabrous dogs! Hands to braces! Let down and haul to run free!" he ordered.

I gave Cotton a hug and stood behind Jack, unsure of what my next move was.

"Now, bring me that horizon." He hummed the song Elizabeth taught us, and looked at his compass. "And really bad eggs…" He turned to me, glanced at his compass, looked to me, snagged my waist and pulled me to him. Glancing at the compass once more, he rotated the tiller. "Drink up me hearties, yo ho!"

"Jack?"

"Hmm?" he wondered.

I looked up at him, a smirk playing on my lips. "How does it feel to have her back?"

He looked out for a moment, thinking. "It's like she never left." He leaned down and pressed his lips to my hair, inhaling deeply.

I had a feeling he wasn't just speaking of the _Black Pearl_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Romanian translations:
> 
> Acum, plec şi vă rog să nu mă urmeze. Nu vreau să aibă de a te ranesc si eu sunt de aproape. - Now, I'm leaving and please don't follow me. I don't want to have to hurt you and I'm this close.  
>  Vă căpcăun! Cum ai putut!? - You monster! How could you!?


End file.
